Stories, News & Updates...

Snakes and critters

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:41:15 -0700

In the time we’ve lived at Bonita we’ve seen a few snakes. Frankly, not as many as I expected but I think they keep to themselves as we try to do.
I haven’t seen a regular gray rattler except for the little baby one in the picture, but I’ve seen two black rattlers that I understand are fairly rare. This baby was on the trail and wasn’t interested in leaving. It seemed spooked pretty bad and we let it be. I don’t kill things in their own home.
Snakes and other critters like them love the tall grasses we have. Piles of sticks, old logs, and generally anything that makes for a good hiding spot is their favorite place to hang out.
This leads us to yet another reason to have our lands cleared of under brush and keeping the ‘love grass’ trimmed to the ground. Since we keep our lot fairly clean of brush we haven’t seen a snake come through. If they do I expect they keep going until they find some cover.
I strongly believe in ‘live and let live’ but when it comes to snakes, I’d rather let them live away from our home and grand children.

Country roads

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:20:20 -0700

The roads to Bonita are not bad. Just enough dirt road to keep most of the riff-raff out of our 160 acres. I did say ‘most’ in the interest of honesty.
Today our roads are pretty good. Unless we get one of those 1-2 inches in 30 minute rains. Then all bets are off and you don’t know how the roads or crossings are. The county of Gila has a grader schedule I’m sure. Unsure is what calendar they use. I think it might be this one.

We all pay the county an exceedingly large amount of money in property taxes considering we receive no services other than our roads graded a couple times a year. But, life is not fair like that. Nothing to do about that but complain - hence, I am.
I’m told by some folks who have been at Bonita almost as long as I’ve been on the planet that the roads were far worse. You got your vehicle in the ruts and then drove in the hope that no one was coming from the other end because getting out of the ruts was, well, not easy. I look at the bright side, you could go miles without touching the steering wheel. Like driving and talking on the cell phone today!
So, when it comes to me talking about how bad the roads are, well, to those original folks, this snot bubble nosed new kid tips his hat to those ‘good ol days’.
There are things we all can do to preserve the roads we do have. Keep our drainage as open as possible. That means to keep water on our property or at least try to keep it from flowing onto the roads during a rain storm.
One very important aspect of country living is the culvert. It’s right up there with duct tap and stills. Getting water from one side of your driveway to the other without making a deep ditch. And, more importantly, keeping the water in the ditch and not forcing it out into the road to wash it away. That’s our biggest problem since we have so many hills that get that water really flowing. And we know what flowing water can do...

So, even if you are a semi-sorta-kinda-weekender at Bonita, please bring some tools and make sure your culvert is in good operating order. You could use the workout (we all can, admit it!) and the roads will be better for it. And no, we don’t need a government grant to get some work done. America was built on personal effort and responsibility so just do a little digging and rejoin with mother earth! (grin)
Enjoy the country!

Fire safety

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:25:22 -0700

We live in the country. A call to the sheriff leaves us with a 45 minute wait before he or she shows up. Always remember, we are 30 minutes from any professional assistance in Payson.
Here’s a sobering thought. If your house catches fire it will burn to the ground before anyone shows up to help. About all the fire folks are there to do is keep a fire from spreading to more homes.
Fires grow exponentially. It will double in size every few seconds once they start, depending on the fuel. The sooner you stop it, the more likely you can save your home, and possibly a life.
Always, always remember that if a fire seems bigger than you can fight, grab any other people in the house and get out. It can be re-built, lost lives can not. And get everyone out before calling 911!!
Here are some thoughts about how to make your home as safe as possible.
* Have a fire extinguisher in every room. Have the special cooking fire extinguisher within 5 feet of your stove. They are cheap enough and they need to be there to grab and use at a moments notice. Instruct the whole family on how to use them. If you have visitors, take a moment to show them where they are and how they work. it does not hurt to give them the impression that the security of 4 minute fire department response times do not happen in the country.
* Curtains are fire hazards. Use metal blinds on your windows.
* Some doors in your home, if built to code, are self shutting. Make sure they still close automatically.
* Have a ‘whole house’ surge suppressor installed on your power box. This helps keep lightning surges from melting down electronics and possibly starting a fire.

* Enclose your Propane tank so it is safe from a spreading fire. You owe this to any fire personnel who come to fight a fire on your property. Imagine the damage one of these little bombs could cause, especially to a person.
* Keep ammunition in a metal ammo can and don’t store it with a lot of flammable material around it, like rags, cardboard, or wood. And if you have an excessive amount of gun powder or ammunition, post that on the house to warn fire fighters of the danger. That’s not just the smart thing to do, it’s the law. I expect you would open yourself to legal action if someone died or was injured because you didn’t post a notice.
* Clear around your home. They call a home that is cleared a defendable home. That means, you did everything you could to keep a fire from spreading and have a fire break around your home big enough for fire fighters to have a chance to save it. it should be 15-20 feet out from all sides of the house. Look at the scrub oak and manzanita around your house and imagine it as the ball of fire it could be. Could it hit the house, or put flames up under the eaves or deck? Speaking of deck, is there grass under your deck?
* For those trees and bushes outside the defense parameter you should trim them up as high as possible but at least 5 feet up. Some of our scrubs actually start to look pretty good when trimmed for a few years. They get taller and fuller. But, having them trimmed up high like that means a grass fire probably won’t spread to the trees, and that is a really big deal.
So, there you have some ideas that are nothing more than common sense. Just remember, when you live where we do, you only have one person you can count on 100% of the time, and that’s yourself. Don’t be lulled into thinking any county or fire district is going to come running and save your home. Ain’t gonna’ happen!
If you’d like to see the above in real life, just give me a call and we can arrange a time to look it over - 480-510-1721
Have a safe home - Dave

The day it started

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:56:48 -0700

June 30, 2001 - This was the day we found our spot on the planet to dig some new roots. We were not sure what the views would be like because the brush was so thick from the middle of the lot. Heck, we weren’t sure which way it was to the road once we got back 20 feet or so.